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Saints Row reboot launch delayed to, y'know, finish it properly

Pushed back to August 2022

The core gang in a Saints Row reboot screenshot.
Image credit: Deep Silver

Less than three months after announcing the reboot Saints Row, the makers have announced they're delaying its launch by six months. Previously due on February 25th, 2022, it's now due on August 23rd. It's the usual sensible reason: the pandemic has messed with anyone attempting to do anything, and they want more time to make it good. Please do!

Cover image for YouTube videoSAINTS ROW Welcome to Santo Ileso Trailer

"Our priority is to create the best Saints Row game yet and, if we released on the original date, it wouldn't be up to the standards we've set ourselves, and that you're expecting and deserve," chief creative officer Jim Boone explained in the delay announcement. "The team just need more time to do our vision justice; we're doing some fine tuning and there won't be much change in the game outside of overall quality and polish."

He adds that they "underestimated the impact Covid would have on our schedule, although everyone adapted very quickly to the working from home arrangement and continued to be incredibly productive."

The new Saints Row is a reboot of the story with new characters, which I suppose is the only way to de-escalate after becoming time-travelling superhero Matrixlords. It still has a lot of familiar elements, mind. While we've not had a play yet, Alice Bee did get a wee Saints Row preview from Volition folks including your man Boone there and Jeremy Bernstein, the lead narrative designer for missions.

"We will absolutely have humour in the game," said Bernstein. "It's become such a staple of Saints Row that I don't think we could do the game without humour." There will be "antics" and "outrageousness". This is not going to be a "grimdark Saints Row". There will, for example, be the return of the Insurance Fraud activity, to earn money by throwing yourself into oncoming traffic. "I don't think we can ship a Saints Row game without Insurance Fraud," said Boone. This time, it's a part of the criminal ventures that you can choose to embark on, by building in certain unoccupied lots. There's apparently a lot of freedom when it comes to that - you can build a toxic waste dump in a financial district, if you want.

The PC version will be exclusive to the Epic Games Store (another timed scloosie, presumably six months or one year?) when it arrives on August 23rd, 2022. It'll also be on Xboxes and PlayStations.

Between this and the XCOM studio's Marvel superhero game being delayed only two months after announcement, there's some real ambitious marketing plans afoot these days.

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Saints Row

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Alice O'Connor avatar

Alice O'Connor

Associate Editor

Alice has been playing video games since SkiFree and writing about them since 2009, with nine years at RPS. She enjoys immersive sims, roguelikelikes, chunky revolvers, weird little spooky indies, mods, walking simulators, and finding joy in details. Alice lives, swims, and cycles in Scotland.

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